Parade

Every year after the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, Randy Ressel and his wife, Debra Huse, tell themselves that this was their last year participating. It takes so much time and effort, they said, and after it’s all done, you just want to breathe and relax. And every year, as the next parade appears on the horizon, their irrepressible enthusiasm for the holidays picks up steam. Soon, it’s like a speeding locomotive, and they probably couldn’t stop themselves even if they wanted to. “As time goes on, you get all excited about it,” Huse said.

The Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce has been busy selecting a theme for the 100th Annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. The winning entry, “100 Years of Christmas Cheer,” was submitted by Corona del Mar residents Jeff and Ellen Derwin. “We are honored to contribute to the success of Newport Beach’s 2008 historic parade,” Derwin said. The Derwins have lived in Corona del Mar for six years, and they enjoy walking out to Lookout Point to see the boat parade each year with their dog, Ethan.

Balboa Island residents: Get ready to rock. The annual Balboa Island Parade, organized by the Balboa Island Improvement Assn., returns for the 19th year June 3. This year features a throwback 1950s theme of "Rock Around the Island. " "This year, we wanted to keep it a little more island friendly, more localized, to get more families involved," parade Chairman Jack Callahan said. "We're also trying to get each of the island streets to have a float to create a fun competition between them.

Stefanie Frith As they sang along to "Jingle Bell Rock," spectators at the 92nd annual Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade stopped in mid-sentence Sunday night to ooh and ahh as each brightly lighted boat, kayak or yacht passed under the Marine Avenue bridge to Balboa Island. "It's our first year doing this and it is just amazing," said Ralane Clarke of San Carlos, who was accompanied by her husband, Jim, their dog, Angela, and her mother, Lee Stein of Corona del Mar. "My mom said this was the thing to do, and she was right.

Christmas boat parade commentator Mike Whitehead provides the verbal color -- the boats do the rest -- for spectators at the Balboa Fun Zone. On top of all the sparkling lights and imaginative decorations, this year's Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade is topped with something special. For the first time in the parade's 97-year history, spectators are being treated to a live commentary, broadcast from the Balboa Fun Zone on loudspeakers. Veteran boater and radio host Mike Whitehead was chosen as the parade commentator.

Organizers make some changes to Christmastime event, among them an adjusted name, a master of ceremonies, and new rules for participants. With little more than a month before the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, one of the city's largest annual events, the committee in charge of putting together the event is working hard to get things organized. Though the parade is going into its 97th year and has long been a successful event for the city, some changes have been made that organizers hope will make this year's festivities more enjoyable for spectators.

Members of the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club will be heating up the oil for their annual fish fry this weekend, but they'll also try to light a fire under residents to revive the popular parade that was discontinued 1998. The Lions, with support from the Costa Mesa Community Foundation, want to reinstate the parade as part of the 2007 fish fry. They'll have a booth at this year's event encouraging people to sign petitions supporting the parade or volunteer to help put it together, and the city fire association's fire truck will drive by the fish fry at Lions Park on Saturday with banners about the parade.

Dane Grace Newport Harbor will be a winter wonderland with a twist this holiday season, thanks to a local resident who added a more coastal-flavored theme to the 96-year-old event. Helen McCarthy of Newport Beach chose "Winter Waterland" as the theme for this year's Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade, Dec. 15 through Dec. 19 in the harbor. "The holidays are so festive," said McCarthy, whose entry was chosen by members of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce out of 45 submissions.

Mathis Winkler NEWPORT BEACH -- Brett Hemphill doesn't remember who got him hooked on sailing in the first place. Maybe it was because he bugged his parents when he was 8 to sign him up for a sailing course offered by the city's recreation department. Maybe it was the other way around. In either case, the 34-year-old owner of Hemphill's Rugs and Carpets Inc. in Costa Mesa will be chairman of the 92nd annual Christmas Boat Parade. Although it's a "promotion" after a three-year stint as the parade's control chairman, Hemphill said the former position is what gets him going.

Danette Goulet NEWPORT BEACH - First they gave him his own day, now the city has issued a rare parade permit for Olympic swimming silver medalist Aaron Peirsol. Come 11:30 a.m. Saturday -- otherwise known as Aaron Peirsol Day in the city -- the main drag of Balboa Peninsula will be cleared of traffic to make way for a parade honoring the 17-year-old Newport Harbor High School junior. "This is going to be fun," Peirsol said. "It's really going to be sweet."

The 2012 Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade will celebrate the beach. The 104th annual event's theme "Surf, Sand and Santa" was submitted by local Adam Gafke and was chosen out of more than 100 submissions. Gafke won two VIP spots on the official Santa Boat, which leads the parade. Newport Harbor residents decorate their homes, yachts, kayaks and boats with Christmas lights based on the theme every year for the five-night event hosted by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.

The Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce announced last week the start of its annual contest to choose a theme for the Christmas Boat Parade. Participants can submit holiday-related themes for the 104th annual event by email to entries@christmasboatparade.com by noon April 15. The contest winner will win a ride for two on the official Santa boat during one night of the five-night parade, which takes place this year from Dec. 19 to 23....

Balboa Island residents: Get ready to rock. The annual Balboa Island Parade, organized by the Balboa Island Improvement Assn., returns for the 19th year June 3. This year features a throwback 1950s theme of "Rock Around the Island. " "This year, we wanted to keep it a little more island friendly, more localized, to get more families involved," parade Chairman Jack Callahan said. "We're also trying to get each of the island streets to have a float to create a fun competition between them.

Kyle Kelley admitted that being named to the prestigious Parade All-America Football Team - as one of the top 50 high school players in the nation - was a surprise. But that honor, which was released by the magazine earlier this month, certainly could not have surprised college recruiters from Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina State, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Utah and Colorado. Those were the schools that offered Kelley a football scholarship, at least, "those are the only ones I can think of right now," he said.

CORONA DEL MAR — Antsy to begin, the 5- and 6-year-old students — some wearing red paper conical Chinese hats and holding musical instruments or accordion dragons on two Popsicle sticks — lined up. "We're going to ring in the Lunar New Year," kindergarten teacher Michele Creason cheered with a ring of a handbell. Harbor View Elementary School's annual kindergarten dragon parade began Wednesday afternoon with a cacophony of celebration as the student shook maracas, rang bells and triangles, and banged blocks and wooden sticks.

I felt honored to be part of the crew who delivered the Balboa Yacht Club's new Committee Boat from San Francisco to Marina del Rey. I wanted to make one shout-out to our captain, Richard DeWolf: "I will go to sea with you any time. " Without a doubt, Rich is the most qualified and trusted skipper I have sailed with. Now that I am home safely, let's talk about what is going on in Newport Harbor this week. That's the 103rd annual Christmas Boat Parade, which runs from Wednesday through Sunday.

NEWPORT BEACH - It's an unlikely place to find something out of a science-fiction novel. Next to the Balboa Boat Yard, where hulky trawlers are hauled out for repairs and rusted containers are stacked high above corrugated metal gates, is a yacht brokerage selling a new product: a water-powered jet pack. Employees of Jetlev Southwest, the company that sells and rents the packs, will take turns dressed as Santa Claus and fly - sans reindeer - alongside boats at the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade this Wednesday through Sunday.

Christmas boating rises to a whole new level at the 103rd annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade, starting Dec. 14. For five nights, about 100 boats, canoes, kayaks and multimillion-dollar yachts will start at Bay Island and make a tour lighting up the entire harbor for more than two hours. The theme for this year's parade is "Feelin' Christmas-Sea in Newport Beach!" and some boat owners have spent more than $50,000 dollars on decorations. Many of the boats will be decorated in animated Christmas scenes, accompanied by music and costumed carolers.

The celebration for the Ocean View Little League All-Stars continues. The Little League World Series champions are set to visit the California state legislature, where they will be honored and given a Senate Resolution on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday. State senator Tom Harmon and other legislators will present the team and coaches with a Senate Resolution congratulating them on their achievement. The team will be recognized at the start of the senate session scheduled to begin at noon.

NEWPORT BEACH — Aiming to include kids and families in the holiday-weekend fun, on Monday the city hosted the first-ever Newport Peninsula Bike Parade and Community Festival. Hundreds took part in the new peninsula event — dubbed "Fourth of July is for Families" — by dressing patriotically in red, white and blue. Many participants rode their bikes and walked their dogs the short distance from 38th Street Park up Balboa Boulevard to Channel Place Park. At Channel Place Park, a festival organized by the city's Recreation and Senior Services Department offered carnival games, jump houses and food.